Beverage cans are thin walled and it is well known that the temperature of a potable contained within a can changes quickly to ambient temperatures once such a can it taken from a controlled temperature storage location.
Moreover, cups with handles are also essentially uninsulated. Accordingly, inventors have devised quite a few different devices that serve to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold.
A U.S. Design Patent to Bradley, U.S. Pat. No. D. 281,755, shows a holder for a drinking vessel that includes a flexible base member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,803,366 to Forman shows a combination pot and holder that includes a shallow slot or cut-away portion that accommodates a lowermost portion of a handle for a coffee pot.
An insulated holder for a beverage can is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,691 to Prentice; further examples of insulated can or cup holders are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,302,427, 3,302,428, 4,383,422, 4,681,239 and 3,285,455.
One shortcoming of these earlier devices is their tendency to tip over easily. Another shortcoming is their inability to receive cups having handles. Still another limitation is that these earlier devices do not protect fragile beverage containers from damage; indeed, the insulated containers of the prior art are themselves easily breakable.
It is therefore apparent that there is a need for an insulated cup holder that is not easily tipped over and which may accommodate cups with handles. A need also exists for a cup holder that protects fragile beverage containers against breakage and which itself is substantially unbreakable.
The patents of the prior art, however, neither teach nor suggest how a cup holder not subject to the limitations of the prior art could be provided.